


Five Times Belle Felt Like An Idiot -- One Shots

by lizandletdie



Series: Five Times [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 03:47:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7250725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizandletdie/pseuds/lizandletdie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One-shots associated with my five "Five Times Belle Felt Like An Idiot In Front of Her Hot Neighbor (And One Time She Got a Date Out Of It)." They're fluffy and stupid and silly. Enjoy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tinuviel-Undomiel: Five Times Belle, so how did the first date go? Did everything go right or did more unfortunate incidents occur?

She’d spilled her drink on him.

How on Earth had she managed to drop an entire glass of vodka cranberry on his nice shirt on a first date? He was in the bathroom either trying to clean himself up or sneak out a window and she wasn’t really sure she’d blame him for the latter. She was a human disaster.

He’d been gone long enough that she was debating asking the waitress for the check and leaving when he finally returned and sat down.

“Sorry that took so long,” he said apologetically. “I didn’t think it would be so hard to get the stain out.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “Sorry I ruined your shirt.”

He chuckled and waved her apology off.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said easily. “Did you want another drink? Maybe a clear one this time?”

“Gin and tonic?” she replied and he nodded before ordering a new set of drinks for the two of them.

They talked for another half hour or so, and then walked back to their building. She wasn’t sure if she could kiss him in the elevator or not, and then he walked her to her door and she _really_  wasn’t sure if she should kiss him there. It was maybe technically kind of a first date? Would he think she was easy if she went for it? Would he expect it?

“Was this a date?” she asked him as they stood outside her apartment.

Now it was his turn to be flustered, his mouth moving with no sound coming out of it.

“Because if it is,” she continued, feeling a little better about it seeing how embarrassed he was – or maybe it was the liquor talking. “Then I was thinking about kissing you.”

“Oh,” he breathed. “Well, if you think it was a date then I’m certainly not going to argue with you about it.”

She smiled and got up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek softly.

“I had a good time,” she said, trying to stay as cool as possible for the next few minutes. “I’d like to do it again.”

“That can definitely be arranged,” he said with a little blush still visible. “I’ll call you?”

“If you don’t see me in the elevator first,” she replied, letting herself into her apartment and waving goodbye. It was over, she’d done it and she had gotten out of there without acting like a crazy person! All in all, a very successful date.

“It was a date!” she squealed to herself, jumping up and down excitedly. She heard something from the hallway that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Fuck. 

“Are you still out there?” she called out, already knowing the answer.

“I am,” he replied through the door. “But it was for a completely rational reason.”

“Yeah?”

“A pretty girl kissed me,” he said. “And I was enjoying the moment.”

“Fair enough,” she called back. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” he said. “I’ll leave now.”

“Goodnight,” she replied.

“Goodnight.”

Well, at least she wasn’t the only weird one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Belle decides to get lucky.

It was nice to be out with a woman, even if the weather wasn’t necessarily agreeable, and Robert Gold intended to take full advantage of the fact that it was very cold and snowy and Belle was clinging tightly to his arm and shivering as they walked. It was approximately their fifth date depending on whether or not you counted bus rides (he did not). Either way, they’d been spending a lot of time together over the last few weeks.

“It’s so cold!” she muttered and he smiled and pulled his arm free of hers and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Why on Earth did you move here if you get cold so easy?”

“How many libraries do you think are hiring?” she replied with a grin as she happily nuzzled into his side while they walked home. “It was here or somewhere in Ohio and I thought this would be nicer.”

“Well then I’m glad you came here,” he said. “And you’ll get used to the snow sooner or later.”

“I hope so,” she said. “It’s not the snow so much as the ice, though. And the wet. And the cold.”

“You are literally just describing aspects of snow,” he replied.

“But snow is pretty,” she said. “I’m really more talking about rain and slush. They’re miserable.”

“I won’t argue with you there,” he said. “But would you hate me if I said I like you being cold?”

“Maybe,” she said with a cheeky grin. “But maybe not.”

They walked in silence a little bit longer, but they were coming close to their building and he couldn’t help but slow his pace just a bit so he could keep her on his arm that little bit longer.

The streets were all but abandoned as they reached their last cross street. It was almost a melancholy thing to step from the curb to the streets, and perhaps that was why Belle didn’t notice the patch of ice that sent her off balance. He tightened his grip on her instinctively, pulling her into his chest as they both fell backwards. Robert landed hard on his back with Belle on top of him. It was hard to enjoy the sensation of being so close when he was seeing stars from his head smacking back against the sidewalk. He was a little dazed as she scrambled off of him quickly and knelt over him.

“Oh my gosh,” she blurted out. “Are you okay? What do I do?”

“Please just laugh,” he said quickly, trying to decide for himself if anything was really wrong.

She giggled a little and brushed his hair back from his face softly.

“My hero,” she said and he could have laid there forever then. “Did you hit your head?”

“A little bit,” he admitted. “But I don’t think it was too bad.”

“Should I call for an ambulance?”

“I don’t think so,” he replied, sitting up and feeling the back of his head to make sure he was all in one piece. “I should be fine.”

“Are you sure?” she asked pensively. “Shouldn’t someone be with you? In case it’s a concussion?”

“You don’t need to do that,” he said. “I’ve certainly taken worse blows to the head.”

“It’s not a problem at all,” she replied, reaching to grab his cane from where he’d dropped it. “I’ll worry about you all night otherwise.”

She was smiling with big blue eyes and the melted snow was beginning to soak through his trousers and he didn’t want to say goodbye to her anyway.

“If you’re going to insist I’m not going to say no,” he said at last, climbing to his feet and offering her a hand up. “My place or yours?”

She took his hand and stood facing him for a second.

“Yours,” she said at last. “But I think I’ll stop by mine and change into something dry first.”

“Okay,” he replied, trying unsuccessfully to keep his insides from doing a series of flips at the idea of her actually being inside his apartment for some substantial period of time. She’d never been in his home for more than half an hour or so at a stretch, and now she’d be there until she’d reassured herself he wasn’t going to drop dead with a brain injury. Who knew how long that could take?

He rode the elevator with her to her floor before heading to his own. He suddenly had no idea if the place was presentable for having a woman inside of it and he was desperate for the chance to give it a once over before she would be there. It turned out there really wasn’t anything unseemly in his apartment. He put his breakfast dishes in the washer quickly and found a few candles that he lit and set on the coffee table before deciding that was too presumptuous and blowing them back out. He changed into dry clothes and was still putting on his shirt when he heard her knocking on his door.

“Just a moment,” he called out, hurriedly finishing the buttons and going to let her in as quickly as he could. She was wearing an oversized cardigan over a floral one-piece pajama-sleeper-thing that looked like a pair of shorts with a shirt attached to it. Oh Jesus, she was planning to spend the night. He felt all the blood rush out of his head at the prospect and stood there for an embarrassingly long time staring at her.

“Are you gonna invite me in?” she asked, sounding just a little bit nervous and he quickly stepped to the side.

“Sorry,” he replied. “I just….you look really beautiful.”

It was close enough to the truth, and she smiled happily as she got up on tiptoes to kiss him before she entered the apartment.

“Is something burning?” she asked, and he cursed himself for backing down on the candles.

“Um, no. Would you like a drink?”

“Sure,” she said. “What do you have?”

“A variety of clear beverages,” he replied. “White wine, water, gin and tonic…”

“Wine is fine,” she said, sticking her tongue out at him and plopped down on his sofa. “How’s your head?”

“Better,” he said before he belatedly remembered that was her reason to stay. “But it’s still a little sore.”

“Can I see?” she asked as he joined her with the drinks.

“Sure,” he said, leaning forward so she could see the back of his head.

Belle ran her fingers through his hair gently a few times before she began parting it so she could check the place he’d hit it. He still felt a little bit of pain when her fingers brushed the area, but the rest of it felt so nice it was hard to care.

“Poor baby,” she whispered, leaning forward and kissing his cheek without pulling away. “You’ve got a lump.”

“It was worth it,” he said, turning his head to capture her lips in a lingering kiss. She purred a little bit and then her arms were around his neck and she was leaning further into him and deepening the kiss. It stole his breath and all he could do was wrap his arms around her and pull her closer.

She followed him eagerly and soon enough he was half reclined on the sofa with her seated in his lap. Maybe he did have a concussion, he was certainly dazed enough now to believe it but he was fairly certain that was primarily because all the blood that had left his face when he’d realized she was spending the night had found a use for itself in the erection he was praying she didn’t notice. He couldn’t be too focused on that, though, because she was trying to push him backwards and he willingly went. 

She was warm and the weight of her lying atop his body was the best thing he thought he’d ever felt. She started kissing down his neck and he reached his hands around her back to slide over her bare thighs up to the swell of her ass. Belle giggled and sat up to smile at him with kiss swollen lips.

“I’m a terrible nurse,” she said. “I haven’t checked on your mental abilities at all.”

“You’re a brilliant nurse,” he replied, hoping like hell this didn’t mean she wanted to stop. “I’ve never felt better or more alert.”

“Yeah?” she said playfully, arching her back and teasing one of his buttons with her fingertips. “I think I’m supposed to check if your pupils are dilated and if you can follow my finger if I move it in front of your face.”

“I promise I can follow whatever you put in front of me,” he said, leaning up to suck on the side of her neck. “And if my pupils are dilated it’s because you’re so pretty.”

She gasped and sighed and leaned backwards a bit, giving him better access to the side of her neck and he took advantage of that to bite her just hard enough to leave a mark. She made a little noise and leaned further away. Suddenly she flailed a little bit and he felt her tipping precariously off balance. He tried to get his arms around her, but he wasn’t fast enough and next thing he knew she was laying on the floor next to the sofa and shaking with laughter.

“Are you alright?” he asked, leaning over to check on her. “I’m sorry, did I knock you over?”

“No,” she giggled. “It was my fault. I was a little too into it and I wasn’t paying attention to the rest of me.”

“I guess now I should be watching you for a concussion too?”

“I think at this point it might be safer if we went to your bedroom,” she said, biting her lower lip. “If you want, anyway.”

He groaned at the very idea of it, and then again at the realization that it wasn’t possible.

“I’d love to,” he said reluctantly. “Believe me, I really, really would. But um, I don’t actually have any protection or anything on hand. It hadn’t occurred to me that we were _there_ yet. I’m sorry.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding a little disappointed but still smiling. “It’s okay. I mean, we can still do other things without it?”

“That is an idea I can get behind,” he said, reaching down to help her up. “I promise if there’s a next time I’ll be better prepared.”

“Don’t worry,” she replied, pulling off her sweater and walking towards his bedroom. “There’s going to be a next time.”

He was so intrigued by that prospect that it took him a few seconds to realize he should probably join her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> regalcoquiprincess said:  
> 5 times date verse prompt- Belle keeps getting harassed by her old ex, Gaston, and so she decides to send him a scathing email/text making it absolutely clear she is done with him and doesn't even want another "hello". After sending the message, she then proceeds to deleting the whole conversation as to not have to think about it anymore. What she doesn't see is that she sent it to Gold . (the wrong "G" in her contact list)

Belle should have blocked his number, but knowing Greg Gaston he would have just found her some other way. Honestly, who sent a dickpic to their ex a full _year_ later as part of a booty call? She hadn't talked to him since he'd refused to return her copy of Casablanca and that had been nine months previous.

_Wyd?_

She had scowled and set the phone down and tried to go about her evening, but every few minutes she was getting another text or picture and she was really having quite enough of it.

 _Go away,_ she sent. _Not interested._

 _Don't be like that,_ he responded seconds later. _Come on, please?_

Because begging was, apparently, very attractive.

 _No,_ she shot back. That should be enough.

 _Just 1 pic??_ He sent. _I already know what your boobs look like._

_Then close your eyes and use your imagination._

How she had dated him for six whole months was beyond her. He was gross and kind of shallow.

_Just 1 pic and I'll go I promise plz_

She closed the app and put her phone down again but it was quickly pinging with more message notifications and eventually she couldn't stand it anymore. She grabbed her phone and opened her recent messages to reply to him.

_Listen, you disgusting prick. I'm actually seeing someone worthwhile, okay? And I really like him!!! I know it might come as a shock to you, but I found a guy who does not send me pictures of his penis unsolicited as an opening line. Which, by the way, you should really reconsider doing because I have seen it and that is false advertising. Forget my number and leave me alone. I never want to hear from your again, not even hello in the street, okay??? I'm blocking this number and then I'm going to go have sex with my NEW BOYFRIEND who is actually good bed and doesn't think that the g-spot is a nightclub._

She hit send and thought about it for a second, and then she sent _AND I WANT MY COPY OF CASABLANCA BACK, YOU DICK!!!_ as an afterthought.

She blocked the number and deleted the conversation before dropping her phone back on the sofa and settling in with her book and her tea. A few seconds later her phone beeped again and it was another ‘ _plz_.’

Dammit, she'd done it wrong. Figures, since she'd never blocked a number before. She blocked and deleted him again and went back to her book in peace and quiet. Not ten minutes later, though, there was a knock on her door.

She sighed and got to her feet, checking the peephole she recognized Robert on the other side. That put a little smile on her face (especially since her face was blissfully free of Korean beauty products) and she swung the door open to let him in.

“Hey,” she said. “What's up?”

He held his phone up to his face and smirked her.

“So I'm good in bed?” he said smugly and she suddenly realized what she had done.

“Oh no,” she replied, grabbing his phone and reading her entire scathing rebuke to Greg. “Oh no no no no no...i opened the wrong conversation!”

“I kind of figured,” he said. “Since I've never sent you a picture of my penis or borrowed Casablanca. I just thought that this sex that we're apparently having would be more convenient if I were here.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and shoved his phone back into his hand while he chuckled.

“My ex was trying to hook up,” she explained. “I guess that explains why he kept asking for naked pictures after I thought I blocked him.”

“Well, we can still send him one if you like,” he said, moving his hand to the fly out his pants playfully. “Just maybe not of you.”

She started laughing in earnest now, just imagining Greg's face if he opened _that_ picture.

“Oh just come inside and help me figure out how to unblock your number, you dick,” she said, pulling him in by the front of his shirt. “You are so lucky that you're sexy.”

He smiled at her and pulled her into his arms.

“I'm sure you're the only one who thinks that,” he said, kissing her nose. “But I will buy you a new copy of Casablanca if you'd like.”

“I’d like that,” she replied. “Almost as much as all this sex that I accidentally promised you.”

“If you'd like it _that_ much then I'm clearly doing something wrong in other areas,” he said, sliding his hand around to cup her backside. “Maybe I should practice more.”

She was so lucky that she'd put so much identifying information in that text, otherwise that could have gone so much worse.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Belle finally gets lucky.
> 
> This probably should had been before the last one, but oh well.

Belle had invited herself over for another sleepover, and Robert was not about to make the same mistakes this time. He’d purchased condoms the morning after the first time she’d spent the night, and while the box was in his sock drawer he also had a couple of them hidden in the back of a drawer in his coffee table since last time she’d wanted to start on the sofa and no way he was going to let anything interrupt this time.

There was a bottle of white wine chilling (as much as he liked her, he still didn’t quite trust her with red) and this time he wasn’t going to back down on the candles, either. He liked her, and he wanted her to feel special. She _was_ special, and he really wanted to make this memorable and the candles should go a long way towards that. By the time she knocked on his door, he had a pretty good field of candles scattered around his apartment. He quickly turned the lights down before he opened the door to let her in. She was lovely as always, though this time she’d skipped all pretense of this being platonic – rather than the cute little floral thing she’d worn last time, she had an overnight bag on her shoulder and a coat fastened securely around her and no sign of anything underneath it.

“Hey,” she said, getting on tiptoe to kiss him quickly. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”

“It seemed like a good time to make a change,” he said, taking her bag from her. She removed her coat, and he wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed that there was a painfully short negligee underneath. It was a pretty pink and edged with black lace, and he was most definitely going to die.

She shot a smile back over her shoulder and practically pranced over to take her usual seat on his sofa amid the candles. If there was one thing he liked about her, it was her complete lack of subtlety.

“Would you like some wine?” he asked, moving to the kitchen.

“Please,” she replied, tucking her legs underneath herself and revealing an absolutely obscene amount of upper thigh. He was lucky to make it back to the sofa without spilling anything at the sight of it. Not that he hadn’t seen her naked (or nearly so) the last time she’d come over, but there was nothing that could stop them this time and they had all night.

“How was your day?” he asked as he joined her on the couch.

“Not bad,” she replied. “We’re replacing some of the shelves, though, so I had to make sure the old ones were cleared off and ready to go. I spent all day on my knees.”

For all his reluctance to give her red wine, he was the one who started choking on the white and had to set it on the table to keep from spilling it on everything. She was going to kill him.

“How about you?” she said. “Anything interesting happen today?”

“Nothing too much,” he said quickly. “I’m restoring a chair. Queen Anne style. The previous owner painted it this hideous yellow…”

He was rambling and couldn’t stop himself. She was so beautiful sitting there looking at him, and his mind had to have short circuited. That was really the only excuse for him to _keep talking about it_ while she was sitting there half naked in the candlelight.

“It’s tedious,” he continued. “There are two ways I usually do it, one is chemical but the fumes are horrible and it’s such an event trying to get a larger piece someplace that’s well ventilated enough to do it so I usually just scrape the paint off with a scalpel blade but that can damage the wood if you’re not careful and it’s so labor intensive…”

“Yeah?” she prompted, setting her glass down next to his and scooting closer.

He nodded and she leaned in to kiss his neck softly and he wanted to wrap his arms around her and whisper sweet nothings, but all that came out was something about sandpaper and different types of primer. What the hell was he doing? 

Finally, she took mercy on him and pressed her lips to his, interrupting him before he could start talking about replacing the chair padding and choosing period appropriate fabrics. She was practically crawling into his lap, but he didn’t want to make her do all the work. She’d been the one to push for this, he wouldn’t make her make _all_ the effort. She was small and it was easy enough to get his hands under her thighs and slide her down onto her back so he could work his way down her body with his lips and hands.

“You look beautiful,” he said as he slid her negligee up her hips revealing a pair of black lace panties beneath. “I’m so glad you decided to sleep over tonight.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it,” she replied with a little gasp as he slid a finger underneath her panties teasingly.

She was so wet already in spite of his conversation and that was _so_ reassuring. Robert took a deep breath to brace himself before he tugged her panties down past her hips. Belle arched her back to let him, obviously excited by the prospect of finally consumating their relationship. They’d done this much before, though, and when he put his mouth on her she gasped and moaned and it was exactly perfect. The sound and taste of her was thrilled him and he was so invested in what he was doing that it took him a moment to recognize the smell of burning.

He glanced up to see if she’d noticed and froze for a split second. Her hair was on fire. He lunged forward and slapped at the burning piece just as the fire alarm went off. She yelped as she realized what he was doing and by the time she was extinguished his heart was racing and the mood was just about ruined.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said, shaking a little bit. “How bad is it?”

He ran his hand through her hair quickly and checked the singed ends. Luckily, it hadn’t been too badly damaged but decent sized chunk had been burned about halfway up.

“It’s not too bad,” he said. “But you did lose a piece over your shoulder.”

“Oh no,” she sighed, feeling her hair for the short pieces. “I’m going to have to go get a haircut tomorrow.”

He wasn’t sure how to console her, and the candles were still burning and the fire alarm was still on so he jumped to his feet and set about putting out the field of candles. What had he been thinking, anyway? Belle rallied like a trooper and started helping him extinguish the candles while the alarm beeped overhead. He was trying to figure out something to tell her to maybe get the night back on track, but he was pretty sure this evening was going to be a wash. It was hard to come back from actually setting her on fire.

“I’m sorry,” he said at last. “I didn’t plan this right.”

She stopped what she was doing and leaned over to kiss him quickly.

“It was beautiful,” she said. “And I could probably have used a haircut anyway.”

He wanted to tell her he didn’t care if she was bald, but he was interrupted by a loud pounding on the door. 

“Fire department,” a voice called out from the hallway. “Open up!”

Shit. The fire alarm was still going off. How had he forgotten? Oh right, because Belle wasn’t wearing panties.

She dove for a blanket and wrapped it around herself as he ran for the door before it was broken down. He cast a quick look behind him to make sure she was relatively decent before he opened the door. There were two strange men on the other side in fire gear holding axes.

“Is everything okay?” one of the men asked. “We got an alarm.”

“It’s fine,” Robert replied as evenly as he could. “Just some candles that got out of control, but it’s out now.”

The two men looked at each other and then over his shoulder. Robert turned to follow their gaze to where Belle was standing wrapped in a blanket with her tousled hair and cheeks flush with embarrassment. He knew his own shirt was half-untucked and partially unbuttoned and it had to be painfully obvious what they’d been doing. The firemen were grinning knowingly as they looked at each other and then back to him.

“We just need to shut the alarm off for you,” the first one said at last. “And then we’ll leave you to it.”

He didn’t really have much choice but to let the strangers in (unless he planned to just live with the high pitched screeching noise coming from his ceiling), and they all had an incredibly awkward time standing around not looking at each other while one of the men fiddled with the alarm until it was finally – blissfully – quiet.

“You folks have a good night,” the second one said as they left. He just hoped his apartment never actually caught fire, because he was pretty sure at this point that his only options would be dying of mortification or just burning to death.

Robert double locked the door once he shut it and turned to face Belle, who was still standing there with an afghan wrapped around her and a smile on her face. He wasn’t sure what to say, and she suddenly started giggling. Soon, she was shaking so hard she was practically doubled over with laughter and even he couldn’t help but chuckle as well.

“I’m sorry,” she said at last, wiping tears from her eyes. “It’s just...have you ever had a night go less to plan?”

“No, I can’t say that I have.”

“Me either.”

“You can go, if you like,” he offered. “I know this isn’t what you had in mind.”

“What?” She blinked a few times as though she was trying to comprehend him. “No, of course I’m not going to go,” she said, letting the blanket slip from her shoulders as she walked towards him. “You’re right that it’s all been crazy, but it’s always kind of crazy with us. If we’re going to wait for a perfect night I honestly don’t think it’ll ever happen.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up on tiptoes to kiss him on his lips. He put his hands around her back and pulled her closer to him. The silk of her nightgown was slippery between their skin and she wasn’t shy about that fact at all as she sucked his lower lip into her mouth.

“Let’s go to your room,” she whispered. “No candles, just us?”

“You know? I think I would.”

She smiled and pulled back, letting him trail her into his bedroom where she stripped her nightie off and tossed it into the corner before seating herself in the center of his bed.

“You’re overdressed,” she said with a smirk that had his blood rushing to below his waist.

Robert quickly stripped off his shirt before the temptation to join her overwhelmed him and he had to get into the bed with her. He leaned her back onto the pillows and kissed her again. She was so beautiful, burned hair and all.

“You still smell like burned hair,” he whispered, kissing her nose quickly.

“And you’re still wearing pants,” she retorted. “You should look into that.”

He was about to comply, but her hands were already on the fly of his trousers and he was certainly not going to try to move her hands off of him when she was so intent on seeing him naked. Once she shoved his trousers and boxers down his hips he finally rolled over and helped her work them the rest of the way down. He was going to get on top of her again, but before he could even try she was on top of him with her legs on either side of his hips.

“Condoms?” she asked quickly and he reached into the drawer to pull out the box. Belle took it from him, removing a single foil packet and tossing the box onto the bed in her haste.

Belle ripped open the packet and rolled it down his length quickly, and he didn’t even have time to marvel at how expertly she’d done it before she raised herself up on her knees again to kiss him.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

He nodded and lined himself up as she lowered herself over him slowly. There was nothing breakable she could reach and no possible way for either to be injured in the middle of the bed, so he let himself get lost to the moment. He had to have been dreaming, but she felt real as she moved over him, and when she finally collapsed at his side after they were both tired and spent she was definitely real when he held her in his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ishtarelisheba said: I don't even know which story to prompt this for. Maybe for a ficlet of its own? OOH or maybe for Five Times?? ANYWAY. Belle has a new cat. That gets into the bedroom. While she and Gold are having sex. Without covers on them AND YOU KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING.

Belle hadn’t _meant_ to get a cat, but somebody had dropped one off outside the library where she worked and after a full day of people asking about it, somebody had to take the poor thing home. What was she supposed to do, just let him stay out there in the cold? Poor little Fitzgerald was clearly used to being inside if the way he kept trying to wander into the library was any indication, and he even took to the bus decently well. She’d tucked him into her jacket so his little fuzzy ginger head was popping out of the top and carried him home that way.

She usually tried to take the later bus to wait for Robert, but she was in kind of a hurry to get Fitz back home since he’d already been outside all day and as soon as she felt him against her chest she realized how cold it had been, so she took the first bus she came across, and texted her boyfriend to please bring her a litter box and a can of cat food for her. She didn’t even think about how weird that sounded until she got his reply message.

_Can I assume you got a pet?_

_Somebody left him at the library!_ she replied, attaching a selfie with the kitty’s head poking out of her coat. _Can you believe it?_

_That you took him home? Yes I can. I’ll be by with your cat stuff in a little bit._

_Thank you. I’ll make it worth your while I promise._

She tucked the phone back into her pocket and scratched the kitty behind his ears when he started to squirm a little.

“Just a little further,” she promised before disembarking the bus at her stop.

The cat started squirming in earnest as soon as they were inside the building, and it was all Belle could do to to keep him contained until she got through her front door at which point he pretty much leapt out and darted under her sofa.

“Ow,” she muttered, rubbing the tiny little scratches he’d left all over her chest. “Fine, stay under there for now.”

She had time to clean up her wounds and change before she heard Robert’s knock at her front door. Fitz was still ensconced under the sofa as far as Belle could tell, but she still watched to make sure he wouldn’t make a break for it when she opened the door to let her boyfriend in.

“Hey,” he said before kissing her on the cheek and handing her a disposable litter box. “This was all I could get on such short notice, but it should be okay until you have a day off.”

“It’s perfect,” Belle said, taking the box and the bag of food and going to start setting up things for the cat. He’d brought more than the single can she’d asked for, bless him. The cat would be fed for a few days before she had to go buy anything else.

Once she’d gotten food and water set out and put the litter box in the bathroom next to the sink Robert was sitting on the sofa already.

“Careful,” she said. “There’s a cat under there someplace.”

“Oh yeah?”

He leaned forward and wiggled his fingers under the couch for a little while but came up dry.

“I think he’s adjusting,” she said. “It’s been a big day for him.”

“I imagine it has. It’s not everyday you get to move in with a pretty girl.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and joined him on the couch, snuggling into his side.

“I couldn’t leave him there,” she said. “He was so scared and you know how cold it’s been. I can’t believe that somebody would just dump him like that.”

“People are awful,” he replied, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in for a kiss.

Belle was more than happy to go along with the kissing, and before long it was time to move things into her bedroom. This was the best part of dating a neighbor, it made for some really convenient pre-dinner booty calls. There was no need for talking as they undressed in her room, and then he was on top of her and kissing his way down her body. She sighed and stretched out as his lips trailed across her torso. He was so good at this she could almost cry, and it didn’t take too long before she was pulling his hair and shivering with an orgasm. He seemed to take the hair thing as a point of pride, and his eyes were sparkling when he returned to her face level.

“No wonder I keep you around,” she said with a sigh.

“Would you like me to try again?” He was grinning, and she knew if she said _yes_ he’d keep it up all night, but she was impatient and it was time for more.

“No, I want you to hurry up and get a condom on.”

He kissed the tip of her nose and rolled over to the end table.

“That’s what I like most about you,” he said. “Your patience.”

“Oh shush,” she said, rolling over and watching him as he unwrapped the condom and rolled it over his length. “I am plenty patient, I just know what I want.”

He smiled and laid down next to her and stroked her spine until she shivered before he rolled over her and started kissing the back of her neck. Robert slid his hand under her hips and Belle rose up onto her knees with him behind her. It was almost heaven as he slid into her the first time. There was nothing she didn’t enjoy about having sex with him, and he was thrusting at a nice, steady pace that promised her time for at least one more orgasm before this all ended.

Both of them were getting lost in the moment when Belle felt his pace falter a bit and suddenly he cried out and fell on top of her, knocking both to the bed.

“What happened?” she asked as soon as it clicked that this wasn’t an orgasm noise.

“Your cat,” he whimpered between clenched teeth and she looked down to the foot of the bed to see Fitz peeking out over the edge with evil in his eyes.

“Oh, _shit_ ,” she exclaimed, jumping up and picking the ginger furball up. “That was very naughty,” she scolded as she deposited the feline on the floor of the living room. “Go eat something!”

There was a little meow of protest as she shut the door and returned to her boyfriend.

“Are you okay?” she asked, kneeling next to him as he lay there prone with his hands over his more delicate areas. “What happened?”

“He er – he saw some things dangling.”

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright,” he said. “I just might need a minute.”

“Did he get you bad?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Can I see?”

He nodded and moved his hands away so she could check him for blood.

“I think you’ll be okay,” she said after a moment. “He didn’t get you very deep, but there are definitely some pinpricks. You poor thing.”

“Just promise me you’ll buy him some toys tomorrow,” he said.

“I will,” she replied, stroking his thighs with fingertips until she saw him start to stir again. “Would you like to keep going? I’ll be on top this time.”

“I could be persuaded…”

Belle smiled and leaned over to give her boyfriend a kiss before she straddled his hips. She would buy the damn pet store out in the morning, but for right now it was time for her to do some playing of her own.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betweenpaperpages said: 5 Times Belle: Mr. Gold hurt his ankle and she was the cause. Attempted Nursing!Belle

It was dark and Belle was asleep, and Robert didn’t want to wake her. She was so beautiful when she slept, and especially now when she was naked and exhausted in his bed. It had been a very, very good night. But he had to pee, and there were no two ways about it, he was going to have to do it before the morning.

He left the light off and his cane beside the bed so as not to wake Belle. Besides, he knew the layout of the apartment like the back of his hand and the bathroom was close enough it would be faster to just lean on the footboard and the wall for support if he needed it. He turned the light on once he entered the bathroom and shut the door, and turned it back off before returning to the room. The way back was a bit more perilous because his vision had adjusted to the light but he was sure he could manage. The only dodgy part was going to be getting from the wall to the foot of the bed, since that was a handful of steps in the pitch black across an open bit of floor. Or at least, it was __usually__ open floor. When Belle slept over, it turned into floor strewn with clothing – some of which caught around his bad leg before he could reach the bed and he went down hard.

“Robert?” Belle called out from the bed and then the bedside light flipped on and he could see her kneeling at the foot of the bed looking down on him. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied, feeling the stirrings of macho pride at her obvious concern. “It’s fine, I just tripped.”

He sat up and unwrapped the pink skirt from his foot before standing and almost immediately collapsing back to the floor again with a rather pitiful whimper as soon as he put weight on his bad leg.

“You’re hurt,” Belle said sadly and he heard the bed squeaking as she climbed off of it and came around to sit next to him on the floor.

“It’s not bad,” he said. “Really, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s not fine, you’re really hurt.”

She was still fretting terribly and it wasn’t helping his ego any but something about the way she chewed on her lip made his heart squeeze in his chest. She was so sweet and so kind, but she was a human disaster. The sweetest disaster he’d ever met. And now he was suddenly very, very aware that they were both still naked.

“Can I get you anything?” she asked, glancing down to his leg quickly. “Or can I help you to bed?”

He didn’t like to have to ask her for help, but his leg was killing him and all he wanted to do was be back in bed with her, so he nodded. She looked so relieved it was hard to remember his bruised ego as she wrapped his arm around her shoulders and helped him to his feet and into the bed before climbing back in with him and cuddling close.

“Can I get you anything?” she asked. “A brace or water or something?”

“Just stay here, love,” he said, waiting for her to nod and lay down with him before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked quietly. “I feel bad, it was my skirt that took you down.”

“It’s fine, honestly I’ve had worse. And besides, I can’t have you tripping over the same skirt and going ass over teakettle. Only one of us can be laid up at a time, and you know how you are.”

She made an indignant noise and poked his side, and all he could do was grin and try not to laugh as she tickled him. Before long, she was on top of him and tickles turned to kisses turned to so much more.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tinuviel-undomiel said: Five Times prompt: Belle muddles up Gold's plan for a proposal.

Belle was beautiful when she slept. Robert Gold couldn’t stop looking at her, even though it was probably a little weird. He brushed some mussed curls back from her forehead and tried to relax next to her, but he couldn’t. His heart felt full to bursting and he was just too happy to be able to sleep without telling her he loved her.

He rolled over, careful not to wake her, and grabbed his coat from where it was hanging haphazardly off the side of the end table. There was a ring box tucked into the inside pocket that he’d been carrying around for a few days waiting for the perfect time – a time when she couldn’t trip and fall into anything or accidentally set herself on fire, a time when he just _knew_ it was right – and suddenly if he had to wait one more moment to ask her to marry him he was sure that he was going to go mad.

Her cat, Fitzgerald, hopped up onto the bed and made a curious kitty noise at him. Robert shushed the cat with a finger to his lips and was on the receiving end of a confused look, followed by a headbutt before Fitz settled on the bed between them. It was a perfect moment, just quiet and warm and gentle.

Belle didn’t stir as Robert carefully slid the ring over the ring finger of her left hand. It fit perfectly, but then that was because he’d used a ring she already owned to pick the size.

“Hey,” he whispered into her ear, nudging her a little to try to wake her up. She hummed a little in response and he kissed the side of her neck and ran his hand down her arm until she rolled over, disturbing the cat enough for him to move further down the bed. “Belle?” he said softly, spinning the ring around her finger. “I have something I need to ask you.”

“What?” she replied drowsily.

“Will you marry me?” he asked. There was probably a more romantic way to say that, but he just had to get that out. He had to hear her answer, and he couldn’t physically wait any longer.

“Right now?” she said, sounding a little confused and still tired and he had to smile at that.

“Whenever you want to,” he replied. “I just want to be married to you.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yeah, let’s get married.”

He couldn’t help but lean down and kiss her softly, and she put her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back languidly. It was a beautiful, perfect moment and he couldn’t wait until he could start his life with her.

 

Belle was already awake and making breakfast when Robert opened his eyes next. Part of him didn’t want to leave the warmth of the blankets yet, but he mostly just wanted to see his girlfriend – fiancee, actually. He still couldn’t believe he’d gone through with it like that, but it had just felt right the night before. It was the best choice he’d ever made in his life.

“Good morning,” she said as soon as she saw him. “Did you sleep well?”

She turned back to the stove where she was making french toast and he felt his heart plummet. Why wasn’t she more excited?

“I have a meeting this afternoon with my boss,” she said. “So I might not be home on time for dinner. Do you might if we just get takeout?”

“Sure,” he said, sitting down on autopilot as she hummed and went about her morning. His heart was in his stomach as he tried to put it all together, but it was so confusing. She was definitely still wearing the ring when they ate. He saw her left hand with light glinting off the diamond as she drank her orange juice and talked about a million little things.

“I had a weird dream last night,” she said at last with a pretty little smirk. “You were in it.”

“Really?” he asked, wondering for the first time if maybe she hadn’t actually been awake when he proposed. She’d answered him and even kissed him, but she also hadn’t seemed as excited about it as he would have expected given the circumstances. Oh, this was bad. This was really bad. What the hell was he supposed to do? He couldn’t get the ring back, and sooner or later somebody else was bound to notice even if she didn’t.

“You were in it,” she continued. “And it was a really good dream.”

“Can I ask what it was?”

“I’ll tell you tonight,” she said enigmatically. Her smile had only grown and she looked to be on the verge of giggling at the thought of whatever her dream had been. He should probably flirt back but he was too preoccupied with her left hand resting on the edge of the table.

How was he supposed to work his way out of this?

“Oh, damn, I need to go shower,” she said quickly after a glance at the clock. “I’ll be right back.”

He nodded mutely and watched her as she disappeared into the bathroom. She _had_ to figure this out at some point, didn’t she?

Belle had barely turned the shower on when he heard a shriek from the bathroom. It startled him out of his chair, but he had barely taken a step towards the door when it swung open and she was standing there in the top half of her pajamas and nothing else with wide eyes and her left hand up by her face.

“What is this?” she asked him breathlessly. “Where did this ring come from?”

“I thought you were awake,” he said weakly, because what else could he do? She had to know what it was.

“Did you…” She paused and took a breath before looking back at him. “Did you propose to me last night while I was asleep?”

He nodded and she threw her hands over her mouth. He should apologize and promise to do it right but then she practically knocked him over running into his arms to kiss him hard on the mouth. He couldn’t remember ever being kissed quite like that, and it was worth the wait.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she said once she finally pulled away for air. “You stupid, wonderful man.”

“So is this still a _yes_?” he asked hopefully. He’d do the whole thing all over again if she wanted him to, as long as at the end of it he still got to marry her.

“Of course it’s a yes,” she replied, kissing him again quickly. “What else could the answer possibly be?”


End file.
